


Dead or Not

by wisenedthefuckup



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Gen, In 600 Words, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 09:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11620473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisenedthefuckup/pseuds/wisenedthefuckup
Summary: Bill and Frank discuss the old world and the status of infected while exploring a suburb.





	Dead or Not

"Y'know what I don't miss abou' th' old world?"  
    Bill's voice was low, his shotgun at the ready. Frank, beside him, had his bow out but his grip was relaxed. He wasn't as strung out on anxiety as his boyfriend. They were walking through a ruined suburb. Formerly fancy houses surrounded by overgrown hedges and ragged yards lined the street. Aside from what Mother Nature had reclaimed in about 10 years without human residents, the gated community looked untouched by the pandemic that had ripped apart what once was the United States. The only real signs of the apocalypse were a burnt out car, an abandoned military Humvee.  
    "What's that?"  
    "Lawn culture. God, just th' sound of goddamn lawnmowers? Th' smell of cut grass?" Bill snorted, shaking his arms and shoulders out. The memory was so bad he needed to shake it out.  
    "I dunno, Billy. Kinda miss it." Frank frowned at the wild looking lawns. It had been a long time since they'd been trimmed neatly, and a lot of walkways up to the empty homes were hidden by grasses.   
    "You know that scent is distress, right? Th' grass tryin' t' call in help b'cause it thinks it's dyin'?"  
    "Well, yeah, but that don't mean it don't smell good."   
    Bill scoffed in disgust, shaking his head. "Nah, babe. It always took ages t' get th' stink outta my nose."   
    Frank opened his mouth to respond, but Bill silenced him with a hiss, flinging his arm out.   
    "Infected," he whispered, nodding towards a fenced in yard. Standing slightly behind the gate, hunched and twitching, was a twisted form. Fungal growths had almost completely grown over her head; barely any patches of stringy hair remained. A pantsuit that had at some point looked quite nice was now shreds of stained fabric. She was well on her way to becoming a bloater, but for now she was still firmly in the clicker stage. Soft moans and clicks jittered out of her as she shuddered, her limbs occasionally lashing out, flinching and grasping at nothing, covering her stomach, pawing at her warped face. If they were quiet-  
    "I got this," Frank muttered, raising his bow into position. He crouched on one knee, anchoring himself to the ground. The muscles of his back flexed as he smoothly drew the bowstring, fletching tickling his nose as his draw hand rested against his cheek. He took careful aim, eyes calculating, before letting go of the string.   
    The arrow whistled through the air and hit it's mark with a fleshy crunch, lodging itself in the clicker's skull. She went down with a strangled cry, spasming as her nervous system fried, lashing out at nothing as she lost control of her muscles.  
    Bill let out a low whistle, straightening up with Frank. "Nice shot."   
    Frank winked at him and lead the way over, bending so that he could retrieve the spent bolt. The shaft was still intact, and fungus weakened the bones of infected enough that the broad arrowhead was undamaged, though filthy.   
    Grimacing as he wiped brain and gore off on the infected's relatively clean pant leg, Frank considered the corpse.  
    "... Y'suppose they can be called zombies?"  
    "Dunno. Zombies're generally undead, ain't they?"  
    "And infected aren't?"  
    "Nah; kill someone before th' infection takes 'em an' they won't come back. An' they'll go down with trunk shots- gotta have workin' systems, judgin' by th' what kills 'em. Gotta die an' come back t'be undead, and CBI just kinda... takes over, y'know?"  
    Frank tilted his head. "Guess so. 'Zombies' sounds sorta silly, anyway."   
    "C'mon- lets check out th' house."

**Author's Note:**

> Part 7(?) of 600 words: Undead


End file.
